The University of Missouri Board of Curators recently named seven University of Missouri faculty members Curators' Distinguished Professors. A Curators' Distinguished Professorship is the highest and most prestigious academic rank awarded by the Board of Curators. It is awarded to a select few outstanding scholars with established reputations. This year's recipients are:

• Curators’ Distinguished Professor: Elizabeth Bryda, director of the Rat Resource and Research Center, director of the MU Animal Modeling Core and professor of veterinary pathobiology
• Curators’ Distinguished Professor: Jianlin “Jack” Cheng, William and Nancy Thompson Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
• Curators’ Distinguished Professor: Zhiqiang Hu, William Andrew Davidson Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Curators’ Distinguished Professor: Erica Lembke, associate dean for research and innovation, and professor of special education
• Curators’ Distinguished Professor: Blake Meyers, professor of plant sciences and technology
• Curators’ Distinguished Professor: Eric Sandvol, professor of geological sciences
• Curators’ Distinguished Professor: Carsten Ullrich, professor of physics and astronomy
• Curators’ Distinguished Professor: Xiu-Feng “Henry” Wan, director of the NextGen Center for Influenza and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Bond Life Sciences Center principal investigator and professor of molecular microbiology and immunology
• Curators’ Distinguished Professor: Patrick Westhoff, director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute and the Howard Cowden Professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics